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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

The Alabama Department of Public Health continues to release more information from the spread of COVID-19 across the state, as numbers continue to rise both statewide and in Shelby County.

Right now, the county has 156 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus with five deaths after 912 tests have been administered.

Statewide, there are 2,119 confirmed cases of the virus with 39 confirmed deaths and another 17 deaths reported following 14,765 tests, while 271 residents of the state have been hospitalized.

Previously, those were the main number released by the ADPH, but on Tuesday, March 7, they also released new statistics that were cumulative as of Monday night.

The new numbers shared feature the number of patients in the intensive care unit and the number of patients on mechanical ventilation, while also sharing the number of healthcare workers and long-term care employees and residents that have been infected with the virus.

Statewide, 76 patients are currently on mechanical ventilation according to the ADPH numbers, while 116 are in ICU. In addition to that, 315 healthcare workers, 56 long-term care employees and 51 long-term care patients have confirmed tests.

The ADPH also released statistics for age, race and sex.

Those 19-64 years in age account for 75.8 percent of the confirmed cases, while 20.6 percent are 65 or older and 3.5 percent are younger than 18.

The majority of cases are from black or white patients, with white patients accounting for 49.7 percent of the positive tests and black patients accounting for 36.6 percent.

Females also have more confirmed cases in Alabama at 55.9 percent.

However, that changes in statistics based on confirmed cases that have lead to deaths, as males make up 66.7 percent of those who have died, while females make up 33.3 percent. So far 26 of the patients to die have been males.

In addition to that, 59 percent of those 65 or older have died, while only 41 percent of those between 19 and 64 have died. So far, 23 of the 39 deaths have been from those 65 and older.

When it comes to race, 17 black patients and 17 white patients have died.

According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, 54 of the related deaths have been due to underlying health issues with cardiovascular disease, diabetes and lung disease being the most deadly, while 17 have had multiple underlying health issues.

Shelby County coroner Lina Evans confirmed that at least four of the five deaths in the county were related to underlying health issues.

These statistics will be updated daily by the ADPH.